Father's Day

Today Janis and David are in Pretoria (about 2 hours away) because David is speaking at a church there for Father's Day. So Lorinda and I were in charge of taking the 7 oldest children (ages 4 and up) to the Assemblies of God church. It was quite the adventure. Once we got them all into their Sunday School classrooms, though, we were able to enjoy the worship service without distractions.

The service was awesome. In the middle of the song "None But Jesus," which is one of my very favorites, the worship leader spoke about how God is our heavenly Father and longs to be close to us. He longs to embrace us and hold us in His arms. Then he asked all the men in the church who are leaders and also fathers to come forward and stand in the front. We were then invited forward to experience a "father hug" from any one of these men while we continued to sing. It was really powerful. Men and women, young and old came forward to receive a "father hug." I just stayed in my seat and took it all in.

The most powerful moment to me was when a young man (about my age) stepped forward and fell into the arms of the pastor sobbing. The pastor held him in his arms for a long time without saying anything, and then he prayed over him quietly while we continued to sing. I think it was the best Father's Day service I've been to.

P.S. Happy Father's Day, Kenny! I love you! :)